DEMAS. - Disciple of St. Paul, mentioned in II Tim. 4:10 with a rather unflattering note: "D. has abandoned me out of love for the present age, and has gone off to Thessalonica." The name (Δηλᾶς) may be an abbreviation of Δημήτριος. From the not excessively harsh tone used by Paul, it seems possible to infer that D. was not an apostate. He is, in any case, a victim of fear, or rather of concern for temporal interests. In this second hypothesis, the "present age" (ὁ οὖν αἰών) must mean the world of commerce and wealth. D. loved it to the point of abandoning Paul in prison when the sentence, unfavorable to the Apostle, could be imminent. Perhaps he went to Thessalonica either because he was a native of that city or because he had commercial interests there. D. had been at Paul's side also during the first Roman imprisonment: he is mentioned in Col. 4:14, in comparison with Luke, in a very terse manner, with only his name. In Philem. 24, however, he receives, in a group with Mark, Aristarchus and Luke, the title of co-worker (συνεργός).
J. Chapman has thought that D. must be identified with that Demetrius who is mentioned with honor in III Io. 12; whereas for V. Bartlet he would be the silversmith of Ephesus, converted (cf. J. Chaine, Les épîtres catholiques, Paris 1939, pp. 239, 258). In the first case one would have to suppose a generous return of D. to the apostolic life, contrary to the opinion of Epiphanius (Haer., LI, 6; PG 41, 897), who counts D. among the heretics. In the Acts of Paul and Thecla, 1. 4. 12. 14 (ed. L. Vouaux, Paris 1913, pp. 146, 152, 170, 172) he is presented, with Hermogenes, as a hypocrite and jealous of Paul.
Bibliography4 works
Teodorico da Castel San Pietro